Renovating aging Veterans Affairs hospitals is taking a backseat to pet projects by the Biden administration, with the federal agency asking for $140 billion in discretionary funds for next year’s budget while only seeking $3 billion for major construction.
The proposed budget has ballooned to over $300 billion for the first time in history, a 13% increase over the current year. With that is a 19% increase in discretionary funds, which is double the normal increase. The funds will go toward healthcare, benefits, and national cemeteries, according to the White House.
“Our job is also to make sure that the taxpayer dollars the VA is given are used to improve veterans’ lives, not just to grow a bureaucracy that keeps veterans frustrated,” ranking member Mike Bost said Thursday in a House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing. “It’s not at all clear to me that the massive funding increases that VA is requesting will do that.”
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During the hearing, Bost asked VA Secretary Denis McDonough about the comparative modest increase in building construction funds, a concern shared by Democratic Rep. Colin Allred. VA facilities, which average 60 years old and have “life safety deficiencies” that require constant repair or renovation, need $88 billion dollars in construction costs over the next 10 years, Bost said.
When Allred asked to get “some insight into the decreased request here,” McDonough responded that the VA asks for moderate amounts to complete specific projects.
“We’re trying to prove ourselves along the way that we can be trusted with these big investments,” he said. “Each time we can prove these projects, we ask for more funding.”
But Bost saved his most pointed remarks for a letter he wrote to McDonough on April 22.
“Justification for this level of increase and the VA budget’s recent rate of growth, which is on track to reach a half-trillion dollars in a mere five years, is unclear,” he wrote. “At what point does the VA become adequately funded? What does adequate funding look like [and] how will we know when we get there?”
The agency received $17 billion from the American Rescue Plan and $20 billion from the COVID-19 CARES Act, Bost noted.
“The information in VA’s own budget materials does not support the magnitude of discretionary increase being requested,” he said. “The VA continues to justify its discretionary requests based on a surge in healthcare demand [due to] COVID.”
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COVID-19 costs were only $1.3 billion this year and projected to be $5.6 billion next year, the budget said.
When the Washington Examiner asked the VA for a breakdown in spending for the discretionary funds, a spokesperson said the fund will “provide world-class healthcare for 9.2 million veterans, disability and survivor benefits for 6 million veterans, and lasting resting places for 135,000 veterans and their family members.”
